What My True Love Gave to Me (Twelve Years of Christmas)
by hilandncr
Summary: Sam and Jack discover true love as they give one another gifts over twelve Christmases. A gift for Robinbishop1231 as part of the GateWorld Sam/Jack shipper Secret Santa gift exchange.
1. The First Year of Christmas

**Disclaimer:** None of the characters are mine; I just enjoy playing with them. No remuneration of any kind has been exchanged in relation to this work of fiction. All rights are retained by the legal owners of the Stargate franchise, its subsidiaries, licensees and assigns.

**Dates: **There is little or no reference to the actual calendar during Stargate, and they don't really give any hints that would identify dates or seasons. It is often assumed that one season of the show is equal to one calendar year. For the purposes of this story, I decided Christmas would fall in between whichever episodes worked best for the story I was telling.

**Dedication:** This story was written for **Robinbishop1231 **of the GateWorld Forum Sam Carter/Jack O'Neill Ship Appreciation Thread as a part of our annual Secret Santa gift exchange. Merry Shipmas!

**Summary:** Sam and Jack discover true love as they give one another gifts over twelve Christmases.

**What My True Love Gave to Me**

**(Twelve Years of Christmas)**

**The First Year of Christmas: A Colonel in a Pear Tree**

**(Set between Hathor and Singularity)**

Colonel Jack O'Neill had experienced worse Christmases. Being held as a prisoner of war in Iraq was the first rotten Christmas that came to mind. Not that he wanted to dwell on that hellish four months of his past. Although, his all-time worst Christmas, Jack thought, would have to be the one immediately after returning from Abydos that first time just a little over one year ago. Sure, his time on the alien planet had renewed his will to live, but he still came home to face a life that was in shambles—his son dead and his wife gone. Jack had spent Christmas alone before, but none seemed lonelier than the first one without Charlie in the world.

As far as Jack O'Neill was concerned this Christmas didn't even rank on his scale as even mildly terrible. For one thing, he wasn't alone. His team was right here with him. They were still relatively new as a team, but they had supported one another through some tough challenges and Jack had developed a fondness for each of them.

He was still a little uncertain of how to deal with Captain Carter, however. They hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot. She had a Mt. Rushmore sized chip on her shoulder when it came to male egos, which made her choice to join the military a bit of a conundrum, but Jack had a similar handicap when it came to dealing with scientists and boy was she that! He didn't understand a tenth of the words that came flying out of her mouth. That often made him a bit short tempered with her. He wasn't stupid, all pretense to the contrary, and he didn't enjoy feeling like he couldn't keep up. Still, she was a competent soldier and had saved his butt, the rest of the team, and most recently the entire base with her quick thinking and decisive action.

Jack's ambivalence toward his second in command was not helped by a very keen awareness of his own attraction to her. She was an extremely beautiful woman and, as far as physical attributes went, exactly his type: tall leggy blond with piercing blue eyes, fair freckled skin and a brilliant smile. There had been a few too many opportunities to notice these attributes during some of their earliest missions, such as P3X-595—the less he thought on that episode the better—and the planet of the blue dress—that's how he remembered it. Of course he knew she was his subordinate, and therefore completely off limits, and she was far too young for him anyway. But it was times like these that it became really hard to just see her as another buddy in the trenches.

This brought Jack's thoughts full circle back to his original notion that he had spent worse Christmases because right now it was Christmas Eve and he was up a tree, clinging to one of the few sturdy branches with the aforementioned very attractive and verboten captain wedged in beside him. Daniel and Teal'c shared another branch nearby looking almost as uncomfortable as he felt. Something was stabbing him in the rump and it had turned decidedly chilly since first climbing up to their perch. Then his stomach began to rumble.

This was, of course, all Daniel's fault. They had come to this planet on a routine survey mission. After two days exploring near the gate they had found nothing of note and prepared to return to Stargate Command where they would be on stand down for the next eight days for the holidays. Carter had mentioned something about spending a few days with her father and Jack had reluctantly agreed to Daniel's plan to introduce Teal'c to a traditional American Christmas hosted at his place. At least at Jack's, Teal'c would receive an education in the most important holiday tradition, the college bowl game.

All of the team's gear and equipment was loaded onto F.R.E.D. and sent back through the gate when Daniel thought he saw smoke coming from a stand of trees a few kilometers from the gate. Arguing that it could be a sign of a nomadic civilization on the planet, which would explain not encountering them until now, he insisted the team check it out. Jack had reluctantly agreed to a quick recon.

It was not smoke. It was, in fact, a very pungent swamp gas. Also, there was no native civilization. There was a very territorial giant birdlike thing with razor sharp teeth and lightening quick speed. Fortunately, it could not fly, hence SG-1's present accommodations in the tree. Jack just wanted to shoot the darn thing, but Daniel insisted that it would soon lose interest in them and they could return to the gate without harming the creature.

Jack's stomach rumbled again. By his calculation they had been in the tree for over an hour.

"Daniel, how much longer are we going to be sitting here waiting for this demon chicken thing to go away?" Jack grumbled.

"I don't know, Jack. I've never encountered a . . . um, bird like this?" Daniel wined in return.

Teal'c spoke thoughtfully, "I believe it resembles what you would call a partridge on your world."

"Yeah, a really giant partridge, with fangs" Jack shifted uncomfortably on his perch.

Sam chimed in with suppressed mirth, "Then shouldn't it be the one in the tree?"

"Funny." Jack retorted.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, "Why would Captain Carter's statement be amusing, O'Neill?"

"It's a reference to a traditional English Christmas Carol," Daniel dove in to what was sure to be a lengthy explanation of the origins and history of _The Twelve Days of Christmas_ that was cut short when his attempt to punctuate his speech with the usual enthusiastic hand gestures caused him to nearly tumble from the tree. Teal'c caught him by the belt loops and pulled him back up onto the branch.

"Just let me fire a few rounds at it to scare it away," Jack insisted before Daniel could resume his lecture. "I promise I won't hurt it."

"Jack, we don't know what else may be out there. The noise could attract something much worse," Daniel reasoned.

"Daniel, I am not spending Christmas in this tree!" Jack's stomach rumbled again. "And I'm hungry!"

"We are seated in a fruit bearing tree. Perhaps you can use that as sustenance during our sojourn here, O'Neill," Teal'c offered helpfully.

"Maybe it will taste like a pear, Sir." Sam quipped.

This time Jack just glared at his subordinate and her amusement withered. No one noticed Daniel grabbing for the fruit.

"Ack!" All eyes focused on Daniel. "Nope, not a pear," masticated fruit spewed from his mouth.

"Great!"

Jack's oncoming tirade was arrested by Sam. "Sir, I have an idea, but I'm not sure it will work."

"Since no one else has said anything half as promising in the last five minutes, Captain" Jack swung a dismissive glance toward the ever stoic Jaffa and still spitting archeologist on the other branch, "you have my full support, whatever it is."

"Well, Sir, I was thinking that some animals on earth are repelled by high pitched noises above the frequency our ears can detect. It's possible I could rig one of our radios to emit such a noise and see if it will scare off this bird thing and clear a path for us back to the stargate."

"What do you need to make this work, Captain?"

"I have a small emergency tool kit in my vest. I just need my hands free to be able to work. If you could hold on to me, Sir." Sam's voice betrayed nervousness, whether that was worry that she might fail in her task or trepidation about being held close by her CO, Jack couldn't tell.

"Fine. Let's do it." Jack's nonchalance betrayed none of his own confused reaction to the present predicament. They were just soldiers doing their job, trying to escape from a malicious chicken beast.

This is what Jack kept telling himself as they readjusted their positions so that they were seated on the branch back to front, with Sam wedged tight against Jack as he held her close and balanced them both on the branch. It wasn't that this position was in any way romantic. It's just that he hadn't been this close to a woman in a very long time and despite the swamp gas, grime and camp smoke Jack could still smell an underlying pleasant sweetness as Sam leaned into him and set to work. He had to arrest his thoughts before he could consider what it would be like to put his arms around her supple form without all the fatigues and tac gear between them. Jack made a conscious effort to breath steadily and concentrate on the expert movements of Sam's hands. These unbidden desires toward his brainy junior officer were confusing the hell out of him. It was a good thing, Jack consider, he would not see her again for several days after their return from this mission. It would allow him time to reestablish his equilibrium. Still, Jack had to return to his earlier thought once again, not really such a bad Christmas.

"Done." Sam trilled after several minutes. She turned in Jack's arms and looked to him to give the order.

"Well, turn it on, Captain." Jack loosened his grip and allowed her to move away now that her hands were again free.

Sam flicked a switch on her radio. Jack heard nothing, but it seemed that every hair on his body stood on end. Within moments the obnoxious creature that had cornered them gave a tortured squawk and zoomed away.

"Nice!" Jack intoned and Sam responded with a radiant smile.

- O -

A few days after Christmas Jack dropped by the base. He was technically still off duty, but after a year in retirement and then the last several months of nearly non-stop excitement it didn't take long for him to become bored. Sam was still at her father's in DC. Teal'c was training new SG teams that would begin going on off world missions in the new year. Not surprisingly, Daniel was in his office beneath a precarious pile of notes, books, and alien artifacts when Jack wandered in to see how long it would take him to annoy the archeologist into leaving his work and going to the commissary for pie. Surprisingly, he caved almost immediately, which really just ruined all of Jack's fun.

"Oh, Sam left something here for you." Daniel said distractedly as he finished scribbling some notes. "I think she ordered it just before she left for Christmas. It's over there." Daniel pointed to a corner of a desk on the far wall.

Jack eagerly moved toward the gold box with the red bow and began to open it. He felt a little guilty because he hadn't gotten her anything. He had exchanged presents with Daniel and Teal'c because they had been at his house for Christmas, but he wasn't sure of the protocol with Sam. Since it looked like she had gotten something for him, and he assumed the rest of the team too, he would have to make sure there was something waiting for her in her lab when she got back. What do you get for your super genius soldier scientist subordinate who explores alien planets with you for a living? He would have to think on that.

Jack opened the box to find, nestled in festive tissue paper, a perfectly ripe and juice Harry and David pear. The gift card read, "And a Colonel in a pear tree."

Daniel's scribbling was arrested by Jack's full throated laughter.

"Damn!" Jack thought, "She had to be funny too!" Despite his initial misgivings, Jack had to concede that Sam had once again been right. He really did like her now that he had gotten to know her.


	2. The Second Year of Christmas

**What My True Love Gave to Me**

**(Twelve Years of Christmas)**

**The Second Year of Christmas: Two Turtles and a Dove Bar**

**(Set between Spirits and Touchstone)**

Crowded. That's how Sam felt. It had been years since she had been around this many people at Christmas time. For the last several years it had been just her and her dad, and even that felt a little oppressive. Last year she had stayed with him barely three days. His taciturn disapproval of her life and career choices and his unwillingness to engage in anything more than shallow, clipped conversation made the entire visit feel like an extended stint in the principles office, not that Sam had ever had occasion to make such a trip. She was the perfect student. She was the perfect officer. Absolutely correct and excellent at everything she did. But that never seemed to satisfy her father.

Looking back on it now, of course, she understood that he must have already been diagnosed with the cancer that he assumed would kill him. If only he would have been willing to open up about it. Maybe they could have come to a better understanding before he had stepped right up to the threshold of death's door.

Then again, Sam hadn't shared with him her own painful experiences of this past year until she needed him, or more accurately she needed his body to host the Tok'ra Selmak. She had the excuse that her experience being taken over by Jolinar was beyond classified and she could not have shared this burden with her father, but she knew she would not have talked with him about it even if she could.

And now that she could, he was gone. They had made contact with the Tok'ra. Her dad had become one of them, and then they left. She didn't expect they would get in touch again immediately, but it had been almost a month and Sam still wasn't sure she had done the right thing convincing her father to become a host. It had saved his life, but how would it change him.

She had certainly been changed by her experience. For one thing, she felt often felt crowded from the inside out.

She wasn't with her father this Christmas. Instead, Janet had invited SG-1 to her home to celebrate Cassie's first Christmas together. It had really been a wonderful day. Cassie had been in awe of the abundance: lights, music, toys, food. She had never experienced anything like it in her native village on Hanka. Teal'c, decked out in a truly garish Chirstmas sweater and crowned with a Santa cap was now the experienced hand at Christmas traditions. He had solemnly passed out gifts from beneath the tree for everyone to unwrap. Cassie's favorite present was of course from Jack.

She and Cassie had shared a special bond from the very beginning, but the girl simply adored Jack. Sam couldn't blame her. What woman, young or old, could resist those strong arms, piercing eyes, and playful wit? He had also been her protector and comforter when Sam had been unable to stop Jolinar from frightening the girl. Before Sam's thoughts could take another dark turn she arrested them by remembering how Cassie's face lit up when Jack presented Cassie with his Christmas present to her. Two miniature turtles in a special terrarium with rocks, vegetation and a pool. He told the girl their names were Bart and Lisa.

Janet was livid. Jack had already given Cassie a dog and a hamster without asking permission. Now he was adding aquatic animals to the menagerie. Because of her rustic upbringing, Cassie loved animals. Sam thought she might become a vet one day, or a zoo keeper - she could probably convince Jack to buy her a giraffe. Janet reminded Jack that he was still on medical leave because of their recent misadventures with the Salish and she could make getting back on active duty very unpleasant for him. He had given her that disarming lopsided grin and an, "Ah come on, doc. Every kid needs a pet or two." Incredibly, Janet was totally disarmed. Sam supposed if the Colonel ever turned that smile on her, she wouldn't know how to resist it either.

It was now late afternoon. They had eaten the Christmas feast Janet had prepared and were all scattered across Janet's living room enjoying a classic Christmas movie marathon - "A Christmas Story," "It's a Wonderful Life," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Miracle on 34th Street," "A Christmas Carol," "White Christmas"-somehow Teal'c had acquired them all.

Sam was seated on the couch next to Jack, with Cassie sprawled over both of them in a doze. Through most of the day, Sam had been fine. She had enjoyed this Christmas more than any in recent memory. But now that it was quiet, except for the familiar Christmas tales playing on the screen, and she had time to let her mind wander, she was beginning to feel crowded again. It wasn't the closeness to either the Colonel or Cassie. She enjoyed the nearness to both of them, really rather more than she should in the case of the Colonel. It wasn't the people in the room with her, it was the crowd inside her head.

Sam had acquired at least two more lifetimes, both very long and full lives, which had lodged inside her mind. Mostly they remained in her subconscious, but since finding the Tok'ra they had never been completely silent. Sometimes, when she least expected it, she would just be overwhelmed by it, like now. Images of family celebrations she had never experienced with people she did not know flashed across her vision, all too brief moments of quiet intimacy with lovers Sam never had burned her heart, pain and loss and loneliness of a life on the run as a freedom fighter and a hunted woman. It all came flooding into her mind at once and took her breath away.

Sam wiggled her way out from under Cassie's drowsy, limp form and hurriedly moved into the kitchen. She decided the pretense of getting a drink of water would give her a few minutes to pull herself together. She stood at the sink, her back to the room and took in big gasping gulps alternately of air and cold water. She was startled by a hand placed gently on her shoulder.

"Carter, is everything alright?" The Colonel had witnessed her distress and followed her into the adjoining room.

In a voice that was not as steady or as certain as she would have liked, Sam responded. "I'm fine, Sir. I didn't mean to make a scene."

"You didn't." The Colonel reassured her. "I just thought I would see if there was any more pie."

Sam suspected he was lying, but didn't call him on it.

"Anyway, if everything's just fine with you," he clearly suspected she was fibbing as well, "I'll just get back to foraging for more dessert." He didn't turn away or make any move toward the pastries on the counter. "Of course, if you did want to, you know, talk . . . about anything, I could be persuade to listen." He tried to give his words a casual nonchalance that Sam wasn't buying.

The Colonel had experienced a lot in his life and Sam was in awe of his fortitude and resilience, but could he really help her with this? Could anyone? Maybe her father would understand, now that he was a host, if he were here.

"I was just thinking about my father," Sam dodged. It was true, but not really even the half of it.

"Yeah, I guess you usually spend the holidays together," Jack responded. "Although, I'm sure this isn't the first Christmas he's been away, being in the Air Force all those years. Maybe not so far away . . ." Jack could see he wasn't really helping as he trailed off.

Sam thought he might leave and she didn't want that. His presence calmed the other voices in her head. It always had and she couldn't say why. To keep him there she let herself open up to him a little bit more. "Mom would always set an extra plate at the table for him at Christmas dinner and make some of the dishes he liked. Then she'd tell us to pass around dad's frog eye salad or dad's green bean casserole." Sam smiled sadly at the memory. "After mom died, we never ate a holiday meal all together as a family again."

"Yeah," was all Jack said, but she knew he understood how loss could destroy a family.

"I guess, I just want to know that he's alright." And in her mind she wanted someone to tell her she would be alright too.

"I love pie."

Sam looked confused at this nonsequitur.

"When there's nothing you can do about life, it just seems that pie can make it all seem just a little bit better." Jack shrugged and reached for the aforementioned dessert. He proceeded to pull a plate towards him and help himself to a slice. "You must have some favorite treat like that."

"Um, well" Sam thought for a moment, "I do really like blue jello."

Jack looked up from his plate, "Blue?" he said with mild disgust.

"I take it you're not a fan of jello?" Sam questioned.

"I like it just fine." Jack looked around for a fork, "Red's better."

Sam stared at him incredulously.

"I don't think Janet has any jello," Jack continued opening the freezer, "How about ice cream?"

"That could work," Sam agreed.

Jack's face was solemn as he turned back to her, "I think were out. I blame Teal'c."

Before Sam could respond Jack reached into the back of the freezer. "Wait a minute. Aha!" He triumphantly pulled out a very mushed and mostly crystalized Dove ice cream bar, which he unwrapped and presented to her with a flourish.

Sam smiled as she received the gift. "Thank you, Sir." Her look turned serious.

Jack reached out and covered the hand she had lying on the counter with his own. His eyes seemed to say, "It's going to be alright, Sam. You don't know how right now because everything feels so wrong, but it won't feel like that forever." This time, Sam believed him.

Jack squeezed her hand and moved back toward the living room with his pie. "Hey Carter, shall we see if Bart and Lisa like pie?"

Once again ensconced on the couch, Sam nibbled on the Dove bar and enjoyed Jack's comically exaggerated attempts to feed the two turtles some pie over Cassie's horrified objections. She felt serene.


End file.
